A Review of the Best Romance Animeand Manga The title of the review isnt exactly hyperbole although there is definitely a mix of bias in my review but I genuinely believe the show is easily the best romance anime of at least the last decade or soHere is a spoilerfreeish review of prolly my fave comfort animeand manga. There will be mild spoilers in some section but as a whole I dont think the spoilers would deter ones enjoyment of the story as there is no mind blowing plot points to worry about. Just a little disclaimer: Whenever I would be referring Ganta and Isakishows main lead I would describe them as night owls becausewhy not? They are insomniacs toolol Insomniacs After School is one of the most kindest and wholesome stories out there that touches right at the audiences heart with a great and lovably cast of characters primarily Ganta and Isaki the two main characters stands out obviously. Both of them suffers from Insomnias and fall in love with each other. Simple enough right? Yeah but Shows simplicity is its greatest strength as the anime exceedingly executes the storys simplicity to downright perfection without rushing the story even the slightest bit. No moments feels rushed and every moment between our two lovey dovey night owls dorks are handled with such care. Plot isnt something extra spectacular or neither revolutionary. The plot contains many commonly known tropes to the genre. And yet the plot is powerful to produce moments of emotional depth so perfectly. Plot primarily contains Ganta and Isaki travelling sometimes alone and sometimes with their awesome group of friends. These little trips are goddamnbeautiful. The story is extremely character driven by our two night owls which makes the trips extra special. Characters are easily the storys biggest strength. The side cast is great they have their own unique personalities. They arent inherently interesting in traditional sense and almost everyone is supportive of the night owls . Their chemistry with the main cast is what imo makes them special. The two adultsthe nurse and Shiromaru are importantNow in the anime they are narratively important. Shiromaru taught Ganta photopgraphyor astrophotography to be specific and the Nurse teacherKurashiki iirc gave them the permission to open Astronomy Club. In the mangaespecially in the ending part they have a huge role to play or an important lesson to teach GantaI will restrict myself from talking about manga contents entirely lol. Now as a whole Cast is unique and have great chemistry among themselves and the night owls. But the two magnum opuses of the character writing are Ganta and Isaki. The chemistry between them iseloquentidk why am I using so many fancy words lol. The romance between them doesnt seem forced they are two people who met each other by a small accident discovered they have a similar problem and thenwellbecame lovers. Story never suffers from weird pacing issues and develops the story perfectly to cook . Their progress in their relationship and character development is just pure gold. A bit dive deeper into the Night owlsIt contains spoilers I am a lil hesitant to deep dive more as I am undoubtedly gonna divert myself to the manga territory as manga still has 70 ish chapter more worth of content filled with equallyif not greater highs. This also leads me to another point as to how beautifully both influence each other. They teach other they cure each others insomnianot permanently ofcourse they teach other how to live and care they understand each other and how both develops wonderfully when you juxtapose it with the beginning of the story. Now here is a lil factyou can consider it a spoiler but I dont think its a huge thing. There are a grand total of 2 kisses in the mangaout of which one is covered in the anime and the other one is a double page spread of their silhouettes. There is no sex as expected. But the story still feels intimate. Them sleeping together for the first time or the one timeduring their picnic or them holding hands in the ending. They are moments of intimacy that adds more depth. The execution of these scenes are just so sweet that I would argue it is even better than them having sex together to describe their intimate relationshipyeah. The Comedy and the overall tonal awareness and atmosphere is great. The show perfectly masters the late night vibes of the sky their trips and its beautiful. The soundtrack elevates the overall tone. Show contains a good amount of comedysome can be a rather clichd comedy but they are honestly fine. I feel 8/10 times the comedy hits right perfectly and even in the remaining 2 times the comic scene doesnt feel off or ruins the overall atmosphere comedic scenes always take place during the light hearted moments and doesnt feel jarring or tonally off even if the jokes may not land perfectly. The soundtrack is great. The OP and ED are rock solidand I am even listening to ED while writing this review lol. Soundtrack never really falters the excitement and the voice acting is really on point. Now is Animation which welluhh lets say is the weakest part of the show. No No The animation isnt terrible but seldomly inconsistent. There are some clunky and choppy frames and editing which feels weird . Although they do manage to perfectly capture the feeling and vibes of the everlasting Night sky which has its own importance in the story and makes the night owls night time vibes and meetings alongside their trips even more memorable. The ending is somewhat a lil divergent from the manga in a sense it feels more as a stand alone and a lil too definite one may say. But the ending doesnt have any falters and is perfectly executed at a very beautiful moment like really beautiful. Only one could hope for the Second Season. Just give us the goddamn Second Season This wraps up the review. I am a lil afraid didnt deep dive into the story more.I would be restricting myself to do that and mostly will do it when I will write a review on the manga. The story is genuinely heartfelt kind and wholesome. Its handled with such a brilliant care and all the themes and characters are lovable real and in many ways relatable. Just Watch the Anime for gods sake. And It deserves a higher rating for gods sake. I cant expect something like Erased or Demon Slayer is rated higher than this.